Facts

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  1. Hunting is strictly regulated
  2. Hunting organizations contribute millions of dollars and countless hours of labor to various conservation causes each year.
  3. hunting is an important tool for wildlife management.
  4. The International Hunter Education Association (IHEA) maintains a database of hunting incidents in the United States and Canada. According to data on their Web site, in 2002, the most recent year for which complete statistics are available due to the lag time in reporting many incidents, 898 total incidents occurred and 93 were fatal. The most common causes of accidents were a "shooter swinging on game, failure to identify a target, careless handling of firearm, and victim out of sight of shooter." Other injuries and fatalities can occur from non-gun-related accidents, such as falling from a tree stand.
  5. Although hunting may be controversial, it is still widely popular with more than 12 million active hunters in the United States according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
  6. Because the animal population varies across the country, states are better able to maintain primary authority over hunting within their boundaries through their state fish and game departments.
  7. Poaching is the killing or capture of animals that are protected by law.
  8. for example, "The gall bladder on one bear can bring as much as $18,000 in Asia … Eggs from paddlefish are processed and sold as caviar. Shells of mussels are cut and shipped to the South Pacific to be used in the cultured pearl industry. This makes a single large freshwater mussel worth as much as twenty dollars, and a truckload worth several hundred thousand."
  9. It ensures the survival of healthy animal populations where imbalances exist in food supply, overpopulation, and few natural predators.
  10. Hunting, the tracking or trapping of wild animals, is one of the oldest practices known to humankind. For our ancestors, hunting was a necessity of life—a means to obtain food for nourishment.
  11. Although people still frequently hunt animals for food, hunting is now seen primarily as a recreational activity, and strict laws govern which species of animals can be hunted as well as when those animals can be taken.
  12. Although hunting may be controversial, it is still widely popular with more than 12 million active hunters in the United States according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
  13. the National Rifle Association points out that "sportsmen contribute an additional $300 million each year to wildlife conservation activities.
  14. Hunters and fishermen fund nearly 75% of the annual income for all 50 state conservation agencies.
  15. Even when a particular hunting practice is legal, many hunters may view it as unethical or inconsistent with the idea of fair chase.